Processing
Calculating Pork Retail Cuts
Use this quick guide to calculate the amount of boneless, closely trimmed retail cuts (BCTRC) you can expect from your pork carcasses.
Meat Cutting
Beef Cuts on a Budget
Improve your working knowledge of the most popular and budget-friendly beef cuts for your retail audience. Learn carcass location, nutrition details and more.
Meat Cutting
Fabricating Beef Subprimals for Retail Sale
From general instructions for forequarter, hindquarter and ribbing fabrication to a more detailed look at chuck eyes, ribeyes, sirloin, shoulder cuts and more.
Meat Cutting
The Basics of Beef Cut Fabrication
From skirt steaks to rump roasts, learn the basics of fabricating a beef carcass for your customers.
Food Safety
Code Dating and Rework
Update your knowledge of spoilage bacteria vs. harmful bacteria, different expiration dating systems, and the true impact of reworking processed meat.
Labeling & Packaging
Food Label Essentials
Use this invaluable online resource to learn the fundamentals of meat labeling including downloadable PDFs from the USDA-FSIS website.
Food Safety
Safety for Small Plants
This USDA-FSIS website portal helps smaller meat plants produce flexible, more efficient and HACCP compliant food safety protocol.
Food Safety
How to Become a USDA Federally Inspected Facility
In this interview with Dr. Lynn Delmore, a Meat Scientist and Food Safety Consultant, you’ll get first-hand advice about obtaining and maintaining a USDA certification.
Food Safety
Validating Your HACCP Plan
This website brings together some of the scientific support you might need to validate your HACCP practices.
Food Safety
Microbiological Testing
Reducing pathogens requires a farm-to-table approach in which everyone has a role. HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point) is the cornerstone of this approach.
Food Safety
Testing pH and Water Activity
pH and water activity levels that are too high or too low affect meat quality and safety. This quick guide helps you test for both.
Food Safety
The Role of Microbial Testing in Raw Beef
Understand types of microbiological testing for raw beef, what to test and when, and how to utilize testing data for continuous improvement.